It's worth considering what the film would be like without the scene. From memory, one of the writers (I forget if it was Coppel or Taylor) suggested that the revelation should come early, as Hitchcockian "suspense" required the audience to know more than Scottie does.
The way I look at it was that the revelation means that we know that "Judy" was part of the whole scheme (that included murder) from the start and so it is harder for the onlooker to feel sympathy for the character when Stewart torments her into changing (back) to Madeliene. If on the other hand we had not known, it would have beed easier to feel sorry for a seemingly hardbitten working class woman emotionally blackmailed into role-playing to appease an obsessed, neurotic man with whom she had the misfortune of falling in love along the way.
Exactly. As it is, our sympathy migrates to the pathetic, broken Scotty.
We would have sympathised with Scotty's predicament anyway - (with James Stewart playing the role it is easy for anyone to feel sorry for screen's No:1 Mr Nice guy) but IMO it would have been more suspenseful had we felt the same thing for Judy as well. As it is, we know that she is part of a charade and so feel no empathy toward the character.
You guys (and looking at the Aulier book again) have inspired me to look at Vertigo once more this evening. Staff-room chats at work over the past few days have absolutely reflected the different points of view here.
You guys (and looking at the Aulier book again) have inspired me to look at Vertigo once more this evening. Staff-room chats at work over the past few days have absolutely reflected the different points of view here.
I know how you feel. I was tempted to see Rear Window for the upteenth time last night and was amazed how many new things I noticed in the background - the quick shot of kids playing near the water truck in that tiny segment of the main street we can see, the pianist still playing late into the night in the background while Stewart & Kelly are chatting and so on.
You guys (and looking at the Aulier book again) have inspired me to look at Vertigo once more this evening. Staff-room chats at work over the past few days have absolutely reflected the different points of view here.
Definitely -- it's one of those films that rewards repeated viewings and each time you'll notice something new
Noted. But I think the debate about this "letter-writing" scene has always been about suspense v. shock. I think this scene was put in, then taken out; put back in, then taken out again; I think it was pretty much cellotaped into the original release prints, hence its graininess.
The scene has different granular characteristics not because it was removed and replaced, but rather that in 1958 a dupe was created via black & white separation masters, back to a dupe negative. This yielded a dupey image, exacerbated by the fact that it in turn, had faded by 1997 and was unusable.
Certain shots in the sequence were used elsewhere in the film, which necessitated the creation of the entire unit as a dupe inclusive of the dissolves -- scenes 62 - 76 of reel 6A / 11 - approximately 113 feet.
RAH
Last edited by Robert Harris; 14-09-2008 at 15:00.
The scene has different granular characteristics not because it was removed and replaced, but rather that in 1958 a dupe was created via black & white separation masters, back to a dupe negative. This yielded a dupey image, exacerbated by the fact that it, in turn had faded by 1997 and was unusable.
Certain shots in the sequence were used elsewhere in the film, which necessitated the creation of the entire unit as a dupe inclusive of the dissolves -- scenes 62 - 76 of reel 6A / 11 - approximately 113 feet.
RAH
I was hoping you would contribute to this Robert -- many thanks.
Nice picture! I hadn't seen that one before. Many thanks. Notice, however, that Kim is not over endowed or especially heavily built. She has a good figure certainly, but having a good figure and being voluptuous are not always the same.
"I don't want any part of it", form the punchline to the whole movie. Look at her performance again and note that after she has said this, she gives the police officer a self-conscious look. This has nothing to do with any complicity in the killings; rather, she has clicked that her comment is hugely hypocritical and ironic. For the whole film, she has been ogling Thorwald's apartment through rear windows and mobile keyholes. She has even assisted in the digging up of his garden. Then, when Thorwald has been caught and she has the opportunity to actually see what she has been trying to glimpse since Jefferies latched on to the whole caper, she reverts from fascinated-voyeur to "I don't want any part of it" law-abiding, bourgeois citizen. It's supposed to be funny, and I rank it alongside "Nobody's perfect" as one of the all-time great movie punchlines (it's the last line of dialogue in the movie). It also sums up beautifully the theme of the movie - that as cinema-goers, we are ALL voyeurs of sorts, even if we choose (like Stella) not to admit it...
an old thread bumped and started by myself under my original username on here
This explains the ending perfectly. Saw the movie again just now - I was originally confused by Stella's gesture towards the detective but the above makes perfect sense. Thanks
No news on Hitchcock Bluray releases yet from Universal, but you're right -- along with several other Hitchcock films, it's been shown on the US HDNet channel:
I'm running The Trouble With Harry at the moment, and looking at IMDB, I notice that screenwriter John Michael Hayes died late last year. This is a real shame: I love his Hitch scripts -- a combination of witty and sophisticated dialogue and entertaining plots.
Nice picture! I hadn't seen that one before. Many thanks. Notice, however, that Kim is not over endowed or especially heavily built. She has a good figure certainly, but having a good figure and being voluptuous are not always the same.
What a job.
"What did you do at work today honey?"
"Welll......................."
Just watched both Rear Window And NBNW. The latter did nothing for me, almost in the same way as Vertigo did nothing for me. Loved Rear Window, thought it was excellent.
My personal faves:
1. Psycho
2. Rear Window
3. The Man Who Knew Too Much
4. The Birds
5. Marnie
6. Dial M For Murder
7. North By Northwest
8. Vertigo
Apologies for the thread resurrection, but I thought Rear Window fans would enjoy this time lapse panorama of the view from Jeff’s window. It’s absolute genius and incredibly well done!
Linear Mode
